Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,958
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$24,432
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,687
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$100,390
Kept after tax
$75,958
Worth in national money
$80,687
State rank
23
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 23 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $100,390. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 60 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $100,390 you keep $75,958 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $80,687 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $102,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 23 of 46 for software quality assurance analysts and testers at $100,390. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, software quality assurance analysts and testers sits 60 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $75,958 after the full tax stack, from $100,390. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,687 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $102,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $148,710 |
| This salary | $100,390 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in North Carolina | $75,958 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,454 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,078 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $95,419 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,489 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Carolina earn less than $100,390. The published range is $61,190 up to $148,710, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $75,958, from $100,390, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 60 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $80,687, the adjusted value of that $100,390 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 60 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for software quality assurance analysts and testers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,190 to $148,710. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $75,958 from $100,390. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 60 of 489 locally.
- This $80,687 adjusted figure, worked from $100,390, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 60 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 60 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,190 and the top tenth $148,710 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $80,687.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $75,958.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,190) and the ninetieth ($148,710) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Carolina's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $80,687 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $75,958 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.